76 Years Later, The Very First Peanuts Comic Still Has The Greatest Start in Strip History

Published Sep 4, 2026, 1:29 PM EDT TJ Mills is an editor on ScreenRant's Comic team, where she combines her lifelong passion for DC with her analytical background as a former Intelligence Analyst. Since joining ScreenRant in 2023, she has specialized in covering major DC storylines, character evolutions, and industry developments. When it comes to the greatest starts in comic strip history, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts is a clear winner. Its first strip wasn’t simply an introduction to its characters or a one-off joke to kick things off. Instead, it immediately established one of the most iconic and recurring themes that would define the comic strip's humor for decades to come. Charles Schulz’s first Peanuts strip was published on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers across the United States, and starred the iconic Charlie Brown alongside early characters Shermy and Patty. In the strip, Charlie is walking along his merry way when he passes Shermy and Patty, prompting Shermy to say, “Well! Here comes ol' Charlie Brown! Good ol' Charlie Brown...yes, sir! Good ol' Charlie Brown… How I hate him!” This may seem like a random beginning for what would become one of the most iconic comic strips of all time. However, there’s a subtle brilliance to it, considering that this first strip kicks off what would become one of the series’ most iconic recurring gags: Charlie Brown’s inability to catch a break. The Peanuts' First Comic Strip & Li'l Folks, Explained The First Peanuts Comic Strip Was Published On October 2, 1950 Fans of the Peanuts comic strip know that Charlie Brown’s inability to catch a break and his seemingly endless streak of bad luck are among the comic’s recurring gags and defining sources of humor. Schulz repeatedly puts Charlie Brown in situations where his best efforts are unsuccessful, where he gets embarrassed in front of the other kids, is overcome with pessimism, and sometimes even gets outright roasted by the other characters. It’s the latter that we see in this first Peanuts comic strip. Despite Charlie simply minding his own business, he becomes the source of another character’s ire for no apparent reason. It’s this display of signature Charlie Brown rotten luck that makes the first comic so iconic, since this theme would essentially become one of the most defining elements of the strip’s humor. It’s truly awe-inspiring that Schulz managed to capture the tone that would define the comic strip in its first issue, demonstrating a clear vision from the very beginning. This shouldn’t be surprising, though, given that Peanuts actually wasn’t his first comic strip, meaning he already had experience to draw from. Even die-hard Peanuts fans may not know that Charles M. Schulz’s first-ever published comic strip was Li'l Folks, which began appearing in his local newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, in June 1947. Like Peanuts, the strip featured a rotating cast of children, a black-and-white dog, and even a main character named Charlie Brown, while focusing on everyday situations. Given the similarities between Li'l Folks and Peanuts, it’s clear that the former served as a stepping stone for Schulz, helping him nail down the tone, characters, and topics that would later define Peanuts. It ultimately helped him kick off the strip with such an iconic first comic. Hence, it wasn’t just luck but years of honing his craft that resulted in Peanuts having the greatest start in comic strip history, even 76 years later.